"The Lord's Rest"
Isaiah 66:1-4 with Acts 7:44-53

July 24, 2005
by C.W. Powell

1. Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
2. For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
3. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
4. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. (Isa 66:1-4 AV)

I want to bring several messages on Isaiah 66, for it is very important when we consider some of the theological trends that are prevalent in some Reformed Circles today. Because some do not understand the corruptions that existed in the worship of the Jews they do not see the extent of the blessings that have come into the world through the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the passage we read a moment ago in the book of Acts, we read that the Deacon Stephen was on charge before the rulers of Israel for the following crime:

“13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.” (Ac 6:13-14 AV)

The most clever of slanders and the most devious and wicked are those which take the very words that men utter and twist them to mean something very different from what the accused intended. Stephen had been contending with certain men of the synagogue. These had not been able to answer Stephen who spoke with great wisdom and understanding of the Scriptures, so his opponents bribed witnesses to falsely affirm that Stephen had been speaking against Moses.

What they said was similar to the accusations made against Jesus at His trial, where false witnesses claimed that He had said that he could rebuild the Temple in three days. They took his exact words, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will build it again,” and attached a meaning to them completely foreign to that intended. Jesus said the words, but he meant that if they destroyed his body, he would rise from the dead on the third day.

Stephen no doubt had said something very similar to what they said he said, but in saying it he meant that because the promised Messiah had come there would be great changes in the form and practice of the faith. He did not mean that a new religion was being introduced. His defense was essentially this: The Jews never did understand Moses and the law. They never understood their own religion.

They rejected Moses from the beginning so that Moses was exiled and spent 40 years in the desert until the call of God came to him at the Burning Bush.

Even when God with signs and wonders expelled as it were Israel from Egypt, they still did not believe, but worshipped idols and carried their idols with them on the march. They had Aaron make a golden calf and God gave them up to worship the host of heaven.

Israel had a tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon built a house to the Lord in Jerusalem. But Solomon himself at the dedication of this temple said that God does not dwell in temples made with hands. Stephen refers to Isaiah 66 as a further reproof of the essential idolatry of the Jews who so corrupted the worship of God that they would confine Him to ceremonies and structures. Stephen quoted Isaiah 66:

“48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
50 Hath not my hand made all these things?” (Ac 7:48-50 AV)

Stephen then concludes his defense by an emotion indictment of Israel:

“51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” (Ac 7:51-53 AV)

You haven’t kept the law you boasted in. You have not believed Moses and the prophets. You killed the prophets who predicted the coming of the Lord Jesus, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him. This so enraged the Jews that they took up stones and killed him on the spot, laying their outer garments at the feet of a young religious zealot from Tarsus, whose name was Saul.

To understand the force of Stephen’s words and the implication of these words for our day, it is necessary to understand Stephen’s reference to Isaiah 66. If we study it in the light of Stephen’s reference, we will understand how the Apostles and prophets understood these prophecies and we will understand better how the church is called to worship the true and living God.

In the light of Stephen’s defense, let us look at the prophecy of Isaiah.

I. “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?” (Isa 66:1 AV).

A. This is similar to what we read in Isaiah 1, where God says, “don’t bring anymore empty sacrifices.” Who told you to bring such sacrifices? God did, of course, and the tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem were made according to the pattern that God gave Moses and to David.

B. The issue is not that they worshipped in the Temple, for God required this of them. The issue is how they worshipped and how they viewed the Temple.

1. They thought that the Temple was where God lived. It was His home. His rest. After work you go home. Home is a place of peace and quiet and rest. You sleep there at night. What a wonderful thing is a good home. A place of rest.
2. Because it was God’s home, they thought of it as a holy place. It was on holy ground. It had holy vessels and holy ceremonies. God was in the place, the ceremonies, the holy priests, and the holy things. They even had a hierarchy of holy things that were intimately connected to their vows and oaths. It was nothing to swear by the temple, but if you swore by the gold of the temple the oath was binding. It was nothing to swear by the altar, but it you swore by the gift on the altar the oath was binding. Jesus reproved them for this and said that everything was holy and all oaths binding, so let your yea be yea and your nay be nay, for God hears everything and fills all things.
3. The effect was to shut God up in a box. They did not see that the Temple and all its trappings were temporary; that God did not dwell there for even the heavens cannot contain Him. In effect, they turned God into a local idol. Isaiah had written:

“2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” (Isa 54:2-5 AV)

Of course—when Messiah came, there would be a breaking out of the Temple and its forms and customs and everything pertaining to Aaron and Levi’s priesthood, because God is the God of the whole earth, but this did not mean that the true religion of Israel was being replaced. No, the true religion was being vindicated and the prophets vindicated: Christ had come. The whole earth would be blessed. Faith has found her reward, and unbelief has found hers, rejection and destruction.

4. Their worship in their idolatrous box had become corrupt and idolatrous. The comparisons that Isaiah uses here are devastating, Is. 66:3. The four major kinds of sacrifices are referenced:

a) Their offerings of oxen were no different from the human sacrifices that the heathen offered.
b) Their offerings of lambs were as if they offered an unclean dog, and abomination.
c) Their drink offerings were no more acceptable than swine’s blood.
d) Their burning of incense was the same as the dedication of an idol.

II. “For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” (Isa 66:2 AV)

A. When Messiah comes the true temple of God will be clearly seen: the humble and contrite heart of those who receive Him. Thus we have Jesus in John 4. He refuses to be drawn into a controversy over which Temple was right, Jerusalem or Samaria: The issue would become mute, although up until then, the Jews were right. But time would come when those that worship would worship in spirit and in truth—in the heart in honesty and uprightness. This is the kind of worshipper that God is looking for.
B. This is God’s rest, in the hearts of His people. When the peace of God rules the heart of His people it becomes a home for God. We read therefore in John 14: “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (Joh 14:23 AV) And again in that same chapter: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (Joh 14:27 AV)
C. Trembleth at my word: The awe is not at the ceremony or the physical trappings, but at the word of God. What does the Bible say? Take the Bible seriously.
D. Israel had the promises and the covenants, but they did not take them seriously. This is the indictment that Stephen makes against them: “You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart.”

III. “I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.” (Isa 66:4 AV)

A. This is connected to verse 12 of chapter 65. You made your choice, now I will make mine. God is not a spectator, but is immanent in the affairs of men.
B. You have not listened to my voice, but I heard your voice. You did not seek my face, but I see your faces;
C. You did not come when I called, but I will come to you in judgment.

IV. Application

A. The true worship of God has always been from the heart---God has never been satisfied with physical worship. The Temple and all its worship was given many years after God’s promise to Abraham, and Abraham was the friend of God years before he was circumcised.
B. Two things we must remember:

1. We must reject the idea that those born of the flesh can only receive the benefits of the flesh. To have true fellowship with God and to inherit the blessings of heaven a man must be born of the Spirit and be changed in the inner man. As Peter put it:

“18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (1Pe 1:18-23 AV)

2. The Second Thing we must do is reject supercessionism, the idea that the church replaces the theocracy of the Jews. This is to externalize the church and was one of the errors that produced the Roman church. The church is spiritual Israel. The seed of the church was hidden in Israel in the promises of Christ, and it burst forth into fullness when Christ came, and the Spirit was poured out upon all flesh.

C. We must treasure the gifts that God has given the church: the preaching of the word; the gifts of the Spirit; the fellowship of the saints, and the sacraments. But we must always remember that all the outward things point to the spiritual realities because of the nature of God Himself.
D. Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, it is to be done to the glory of God.
E. All things are to be done in faith, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
F. We are to present out bodies as living sacrifices, not doing our own thing or going in our own way, but living our whole lives in obedience to Christ, for God is the Creator of all things, and there is nothing we do that does not fall under the rule of faith and the glory of God.

May God bless you.

Amen and Amen.

May God bless you.